Foldable rack



April 19 1927. 1,625,694

H. E. WILLIAMS FOLDABLE RACK Filed Jul.v9. 1925 HAROLD E. WILLIAMS.

Patented Apr. 19, 1927.

PATENT OFFICE.

HAROLD E. VILLIAMS, OF CARTHAGE, MISSOURI.

FOLDABLE RACK.

Application led July 9, 1925.

My invention relates to foldable racks adapted to be secured to the running boards of automobiles, and when opened or unfolded serving as guards for confining luggage that may be placed on suoli running boards. It has for its object to produce a rack of this kind that is of few parts, and is simple in construction and cheap to manuv frmture, but possesses ample strength and rigidity when set up to serve all the purposes for which it is constructed.

In the drawings- Figure 1 is a side view of the invention as applied to the running board of a car, the parts being shown in the position they occupy when the rack is in use.

Fig. 2 is an elevation of the rack when folded.

Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section taken on the line III- III of Fig. 1.

Figure 4 is a bottom plan view of the rack when folded.

Referring to the drawings A indicates the body of an automobile, B the running board thereof, and C the wheel fenders. The rack embodying my present invention is repre sented as secured to the edge of the running board, although it is adapted to be applied to other supports and to be used for other purposes than that which has been indicated, as for instance as a guard for a platform or a shelf. For this reason I wish it to be understood that such terms a running board, luggage, etc., are used in a typical sense, and not for the purpose of restricting the invention to a particular use.

The rack comprises a set of clamps adapted to engage with the edge of the running board B, an upper longitudinal rail 3, and jointed foldable supports between each clamp and the rail. The rail is preferably angular in cross section and of a length somewhat greater than the distance between the clamps. The jointed links connecting one end of the rail 3 with a clamp are designated 5 and G, these being united to each other by the intermediate pivot 7, and to a clamp 2 and the rail 3, respectively, by the pivots 8 and 9. These two links are preferably of the same length, so that the intermediate joint 7 is midway between the top rail and the clamp. rIhe jointed links at the opposite end of the rack are designated 1() and 11, and these are united to each r other by an intermediate pivot 13, and are Serial No. 42,576.

connected respectively with a clamp Q and the upper rail by the pivots 12 and l-l. In order to maintain the upper rail always in parallelism with the edge of the board B, I interpose between the intermediate joints 7 and 13 of the foldable supports for the upper rail, a stiff bar et.

The arrangement described permits the rack to be unfolded. with the upper rail elerated the desired distance above the board B, as represented in Fig 1, or folded with the rail 3 dropped to a position close to or opposite the edge of the board B.

In order to provide for rigidly holding the rack in its open or extended position, and preferably in position with the jointed supports somewhat buckled, as represented, I extend one of the links that is pivotally connected with a clamp, the link in the showing in the drawings, beyond its intermediate pivotal connection at 13, so as to form an arm 10 of a length to reach the rail 3. rl`his arm or extension is provided with a pin or stud 16 that is adapted to move in a slot 15 formed in the vertical member of the rail 3. The end of the slot nearest the pivot lllis shaped to form a shouldered seat 17 in which the pin or stud 16 rests when the rack is extended, as represented in Fig. 1. l/Vhenever the pin is seated in the recess 17 the parts of the rack are securely held in open or extended position, and will be thus maintained until the holding parts are manually released by withdrawing the stud from its seat and permitting it to enter the smooth portion of the slot 15, in which it may slide as the parts of the rack. move during the folding and unfolding operation. The rack being extended and the parts thereof held locked in the open position as described, all that is required to be done to release and fold the rack is to lift. the pin from its seat and press downward upon the top rail 3, and this will cause the supporting jointed links to buckle or fold and the parts to assume the position represented in Fig. 2. To open the rack it is only necessary to lift up on the top rail, until the parts assume the open position with the pin 16 in the seat 17 at the end of the slot 15.

l/Vhat I claim is:

1. A rack comprising clamps by which it may be united to a running board, a longitudinal rail, foldable jointed supports con- `diate pivotal connections, and means inter- `posedfdireetly bet-Ween the top rail and at 'gether at their intermediate joints.

2. A rael; comprising an upper longitudinal ra1l,`means for eonneetmgthe raek to a running hoard, foldable jointed supports uniting the rail and the said connecting rneiinss Veach consisting; ot a pair oi links respectively pivoted to the rail and tothe connecting means, and pivotalljY united with feaeh other,' a rigid intermediate har connecting the jointed supports at their intermeleast one of the jointed ioldable supports for holding the rack in extended position.

A foldable rack comprising :i top longitudinal rail in which is a slot formed With a. shouldered seat, means for uniting the rack to a running hoard, foldahle jointed `supports` each consisting ot a pair ot links,

the .lower link being' pivoted to the means hy which the rack is united to its running hoard, and the upper link heilig pivoted to the top rail, the two linksheing pivotally united to form the intermediate joint oit' the support, a rigid bar uniting the supports at their intermediate joints, and a rigid extension carried hy the lower linl; ot at least one of the supports and provided at its upper end with a stud adapted to more along the slot in the top rail and to occupy the shouldered seat thereof in order to hold the raek in extended position.

HAROLD E. VILLIAMS. 

